Unfinished Portrait

A Novel

By: Agatha Christie, Mary Westmacott

Narrated by: Lewis Hancock

An unforgettable tale of a woman at her most vulnerable by Agatha Christie, written under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.

Agatha Christie, famous for her ingenious crime novels, also wrote about crimes of the heart.Written under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, Christie’s tales of romantic suspense further explore the human psychology she was so intrigued by, freed from the expectations of her mystery fans.

Bereft of the three people she has held most dear—her mother, her husband and her daughter—Celia is on the verge of suicide. Then one night on an exotic island, she meets Larraby, a successful portrait painter. Through a long night of talk, she reveals she is afraid to commit herself to a second chance at happiness with another person, yet is not brave enough to face life alone. Can Larraby help Celia come to terms with the past, or will they part ways, her outcome still uncertain?

Unfinished Portrait is both poignant and personal, borrowing details from the author’s own life to create an unforgettable and bittersweet love story.

Follow her life

If you know Agatha Christie’s life, you can predict what will happen next as you listen to this book.

Unexpected

The whole story was completely unexpected because nothing I have ever read by Agatha Christie was anything like this book.

It’s her descriptions

There is a contemporary tendency to describe the vulgar or even the absurd and to disregard the beautiful. Agatha Christie does not fall into this, thus her works feel fresh while requiring a vast amount of emotional intelligence to truly follow her characters. I don’t have such an intelligence, but I do have a wonder for it.

The real story well written

My understanding is that this is the true story more or less of Agatha Christie’s youth and first marriage. Regardless it is so well written it is one of my favorites.